If You Don't Like The Weather, Wait 10 Minutes.....

Well we had the most amazing day Saturday. It was supposed to be raining with a chance of thunder and lightening - ha! I laugh in the face of the weather man. Only God could have delivered such a perfect day!

We had Charlotte's birthday party at 3pm at my moms house. There were 17 kids, 15 adults, lots of sugar, and NO alcohol to subdue the craziness. If it had in fact been a day full of rain and thunder and lightening it would have been awful - but instead of yucky Oregon weather we had the PERFECT Oregon weather. It was about 75, sunny with a slight breeze. We had an amazing turn out and had so much fun. Charlotte walked away with a loot. Molly however has been playing with everything she got - and Charlotte couldn't care less.

After the party we came back home - by the time we all got in the house and completely unloaded the car the first rain dropped - within minutes it was pouring! It continued to get worse and worse and as you all know we ended the night with an amazing Thunder Storm. How amazing - right?

For Sale!

Our house is finally on the market. We've been talking about selling for about a year now - we finally decided now is the time. Mostly because we want to get into something bigger and something with a yard! We are truely "itchin'" for a yard. Summer is coming up and having the girls play in the street is really starting to drive me nuts....

Keeping a house clean 24/7 - ready to show - with 2 toddlers is a full time job. I am so tired all the time. I have noticed in the week that the house has been on the market that I start cleaning around 8am and then try to get out of the house once we are ready.... sadly NO one has come to look yet. I feel a little like if I just jinx it and leave the place a disaster someone will come - too bad that isn't really how it works huh? So if you happen to know anyone that wants a very cute 2 bedroom 2 1/2 bath townhouse/condo have them come by! :) I am so impatient and I know that this is a slow market right now... hopefully the right family or person comes by soon!!!

I'm one of THOSE parents....


Apparently Super Nanny would be a welcomed annoyance to our family. We have used a couple of her tricks as of late and BOTH worked absolutely perfectly! The most recent one we used was the "PaciFairy". Molly is/was extremely attached to the pacifier and I was freaking out about having to take it away - I knew I needed to (awhile ago infact) but was really not looking forward to having to go through it.... well the other night we did it! She is a true BIG KID now! I can't even believe how easy it was. We had her put ALL of her pacifiers in a bag and she sprinkled some glitter on them and closed the bag then she put them by the door for the PaciFairy to come get them and leave a toy in it's place. Jon took the girls upstairs and gave them a bath and while she was in the bath - sure enough the PaciFairy came and left her a movie (Jonah - Veggie Tales) and a Disney Princess pop up castle (tent) - she even left a trail of glitter through the house. When Molly came downstairs and saw it she was so excited! I got it on video tape. Anyway at bed time we laid her down without her plug and she only cried for about a half an hour and not even that bad - then she slept through the night..... holy crap! Last night was even better - she cried briefly and again slept through the night until 8:30am!!!!! I can't even tell you how happy I am that she no longer has a pacifier and I no longer feel like a horrible mom! Now we'll have to work on Charlotte - but I'm not ready for her to get rid of her plug yet.... she's my baby....

What a good day!!!

Other than the fact that the girls woke me up at 6:20am this morning - this is going to be a good day... I can just feel it. I weighed in this morning and I'm down 23 lbs (I know I can't believe it either), it's another BEAUTIFUL day, my house is clean, I'm drinking coffee and a good brisk walk to the park with the girls is calling my name.... I love days like this. I couldn't ask for better - well maybe if the girls didn't have this nagging cold (it just keeps getting passed back and forth)....

Anyway - I hope you all enjoy this beautiful day as well!!! Get outside and enjoy the weather - it's not going to last long - we are in Oregon after all.....

He was injured....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-8Ihsccknw

Again?


Another College shooting?
My heart breaks for the families and friends of the 5 students who lost their lives yesterday at the shooting at NIU. My heart also breaks for the family and friends of the shooter - who took his life as well without leaving any reason as to why he did it. His dad came out of his house to tell the reporters to leave him alone that this was a very hard time for him - he apparently threw his arms up in the air and wept - I can't even imagine how he must feel....
This kind of thing scares me so much. I remember the Columbine shooting - I was still going to highschool at the time and was SURE that our school was next - the first week back to school after that shooting I remember feeling so unsure about everything and everyone. Now school shootings are becoming a somewhat normal thing. There have been so many I can't even remember them all. It makes me want to homeschool and shelter my girls from any possible dnager (of course I know I can't). I just don't understand why these things happen.

-18

Yep that would be 18lbs down!!! That is all - have a good day!!!!! I know I will.

No Nap!!!

So today Molly decided she did not want a nap - I let her lay up there for about an hour before deciding to bring her downstairs (to avoid her waking up Charlotte). Now she is sitting watching Cinderella eating a snack and is going to play with playdough for the first time....

May I ask you other moms out there - at what age did your kids stop taking a daily nap? Isn't she a little young? I don't think she is DONE taking naps - but she is obviously NOT tired right now..... am I closing in on the no more nap zone??? I don't think I'm ready for that yet.....

Yippie!!!

15 lbs to date! As of this morning I am down 15 lbs and Jon is down 16. I am so proud of us!

Together we have lost a toddler - pretty disgusting huh?

Speaking of toddlers - Molly is hiding underneath a blanket singing and Charlotte is trying to vacuum the stool - both in just their panties and diaper - man I love them! :)

That is all for now! Love you all!

Pathetic Night....


So tonight is one of those nights that I would call pathetic. I am sitting at home alone, well that's not fully true - the girls are upstairs sleeping, but mostly I'm home alone. Jon is at James' show tonight and I'm home with the babes. Normally I wouldn't have any problem with it - however tonight I have a really bad headache, nothing is on tv, I'm not into a good book, and I have eaten all my calories for today - so no snacking.... So I'm online trying desperately to fill my time and watching American Gladiators.... that's a whole 'nother post.... I will probably end up going to bed very soon. Jon just called and said that the first band hasn't even come on yet and it's 10pm - James doesn't play until third - Jon wont be home until well after 1am - I am not staying up for him - there is no way.

Hey but on a very exciting note - I'm down 12 lbs and I haven't missed one day of working out - Wednesday will be 4 weeks! I'm proud!

Well that's all for tonight.

I'm pretty much positive I'm going to bed now.

Duh!

So yesterday morning around 5am - Jon was getting ready to leave for work and we had heard the girls stering a bit but knew that they would go back to sleep. I needed to sneeze and really didn't want to do it because I was afraid it might wake the girls more... so I held it back and by doing so when I did sneeze I jerked my head so bad that I ended up hurting my neck badly. I had a doctors appointment for something else that day and while I was there I asked the doctor to look at my neck - she ended up prescribing some muscle relaxers. They don't work as well as I would like - really they just make me tired... oh well I'm sure my neck will heal with time - I'm such a moron!!! I wish I could have had a cooler story behind it - but no... just sneezing!! Man I'm getting old! :)

I have to give myself a slap on the back though (if it didn't kill my neck to do so) I still managed to do my workout last night without injuring my neck any further. I was freaking out that my stupid neck injury was going to possibly put a damper on my workout routine - but it didn't - I sucked it up and worked out anyway - drugged and everything! :)

It's been 2 weeks and 3 days so far and I havne't missed a single day of working out - some days I've done it twice a day. As of Wednesday morning I was down a total of 7 lbs and this morning I was down 2 more!! My doctor is thrilled with my progress and I have to admit - so am I!

Anyway - I think I'm going to go lay down while the girls are napping and get a little shut eye!

I'm Back!!!

I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've posted anything knew.

So what's new you ask? Well let's see.... We had an amazing Christmas. The girls got so many gifts we had to actually move our furniture around just to accomodate. The day after Christmas was probably even better than the day of. The girls walked down stairs and literally walked from toy to toy to toy beaming with excitement - it was so classic. New Years Eve was nice. We started the evening over at Angela and Zack's party at the "Money Pit". We only stayed for about an hour and then headed home (we didn't have a sitter). We went over to our neighbors house and hung for about another hour when Jon decided to take the girls home and put them to bed - he let me stay. My neighbor and I ended up sitting and talking for a while and got a bit drunk off of wine - it was fun. I continued going back and forth between Jon and my neighbors and Jon finished off the night over there with all of us - it was fun.
Jon and I made a New Years resolution to finally kick our butts and lose this weight. We are so tired of constantly complaining and doing nothing. For Christmas Jon bought me "The Firm" work out videos and step stools. I havne't missed a day yet - it is just shy of an hour work out - very intense and very awesome. I have found my passion! I love to work out! I actually look forward to working out - how crazy is that! I feel like I've been missing out this whole time. We are eating well again too - I just feel happy and put together (you know what I mean?).

Anyway - life is good in the Powell house.

I will try to post more often and respond to all your posts too.

House Hunting on Pause

Well it looks like we will be staying in this house a little longer. For any of you that didn't know - we made an offer on a house out in North Plains last week - and after an entire week of still hearing nothing "official" back we decided that we just didn't want to deal with these people. It made us nervous the way they were handling everthing or lack of handling everthing... Jon and I are in no rush to move - when we find the right house we will know and we will move then... until then we are happy in our little home for now.

I'm kind of relieved that we are going through the process right now - it's nice to focus just on Christmas and this time of year. I love Christmas but ever since we started looking into another house we kind of put Christmas on hold - we almost didn't get a tree - thank goodness we decided to get one anyway.... once the house thing was put on hold - our Christmas spirits are back!!!

Well it's late and I need to go to bed - we have a long day/days ahead of us!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!!!!

Done!

I know you are all going to shoot bullets at me or atleast spit in my general direction - but I still have to tell you.... I'm done with Christmas shopping - - nenernenernener... other than just a few finishing touches - I'm done. I can't really believe it either. Jon and I had been saving money out of each check to put toward Christmas over the past year because we just hated feeling so tight last year. We cashed it out about 3 weeks ago and since then I've been in a shopping frenzie - literally. I basically have spent money every single day for the past 3 weeks. It's been fun. I feel so free to actually enjoy this Christmas season. I don't have to worry about rushing around with all the crazys trying to find that one last specific item that might be sold out or in that fat ladies hands and she wont give it up even though it's a barbie doll and she doesn't have any kids to buy for - she just wants it for her collection... you know exactly who I'm talking about - they are out there - at every store - some are men, some are women - but they almost always are fat and absolutely obnoxious..... Anyway, so once again to rub it in your face... I'm done!!! :) I will however offer to watch your chillins for a couple hours if you need to get out there and find some "santa gifts"!

Well now that I've made myself a target - I will go.

Dentist Visit....

So yesterday Jon and I both had dentist appointments. His was at 2pm and mine was at 3pm. The girls and I met Jon there to do the trade off while I had my teeth cleaned. Jon had just had 2 cavities filled and was a bit numb - he kissed me and I think only half of his mouth actually worked - it was pretty funny.

I only had one cavity - I was pretty surprised - it has been over 3 years since I had gone to the dentist. My cavitiy is in one of my wisdom teeth. You see - my wisdom teeth came in perfectly straight and I had a lot of room for them - however it's hard to clean them - and I am religious about cleaning my teeth - twice a day I brush, floss and gargle mouth wash - but I can't really reach back there to floss and the toothbrush it self barely fits... so after discussing my "issues" with the dentist he has reccomended that I just get them removed. So I am meeting with the oral surgeon tomorrow afternoon to discuss when they will be removed.... Am I strange to kind of want this? I've never been put to sleep and that fascinates me and everyone I know has had their wisdome teeth pulled - I'm one of those rare few that haven't gone through it - I'm kind of strangely excited. I know I'm weird.

The Awakeners

Oh my goodness. I've never finished a book so quickly. I started reading this book last Monday and finished it last night a little after nine. It was hard to put the book down. What an amazing story. If you haven't read the book yet - I strongly encourage it. I don't usually get into fantasy novels - but this book has changed my opinion.

Thank you mom for letting me borrow the book!

Now I need a new book - suggestions anyone?

5 birthdays, a baby shower and a Wedding.

Sounds like a movie title doesn't it? Nope - just my next 2 weeks wrapped up into a sentence.... We have 2 birthday parties and a baby shower this Saturday. Sunday we have a birthday party and are missing one birthday that happens to be at the same time as Lauren's (obviosly we will be going to Lauren's). Next Saturday we have a birthday party in the morning and a wedding in the afternoon.... I feel like I need to take a deep breath before it all starts.

On a related but seperate note - Sarah and I went to Target today and were able to get all 5 birthday gifts. I walked away very satisfied and happy with every gift I bought. We were also able to even get a couple of Christmas gifts while we were there. I couldn't believe how good my girls did - you all know how horrible they are when we go anywhere - but today they actually did really good. I actually felt a little relieved when I got into the car to go home - normally by the time we are leaving - both girls are crying - I am near tears and wishing I had never left the house - which I know is just not a possibility - most days I just end up not going anywhere because I dred leaving the house - I know they are going to be awful - but today made me see what my future might hold.... I hope I hope I hope!

Anyway - wish me and my family luck in the next 2 weeks. :)

Okay so we finally got some of the pictures - however they kind of suck. There are only a few that actually turned out. I sent some of you these over e-mail but here they are in case I didn't send them to you....

Bummer huh? Oh well - we are still learning with this camera.... I hope we figure it out before the next big event.

Halloween Pictures to Come Soon

I know it's been already over a week.... Heres the deal - we have uploaded the pictures and videos onto our computer - however at this point we need to make the videos so you all can see them too - not sure how to yet - we're working on it. The pictures are very very blurry. The new video camera doesn't take good stills - bummer. So we will pick through the lot and hopefully within the next couple of days we will have some up and available for you to look at them.... the videos aren't great either - the lighting wasn't really good for capturing the moment - so they are kind of dark - but it's still funny to watch and see all the costumes again - I think my favorite part (other than the continual capturing of Stephan going down the stairs - Jon wanted him to fall badly) is the morning after - we all look... well hung over! :)

I think the best news though (for me atleast) is that all the other videos are great - we have really gotten some cute stuff of our kids and Sarah's kids - the funniest is of the 4 of them playing in my living room - Hayden and Lauren were break dancing and then Charlotte started to copy them - I was laughing so hard that night and again when we watched it - there were tears... good stuff! :)

Anyway - we will try our damndest to get them out asap! Sorry for the wait.

Love you all,

Em

No Anal Leakage - but many more.....

So finally I went to the doctor about the whole Insomnia bull crap. She thinks I'm anxious/depressed and restless. So I've been put on this stuff for all three - I am supposed to take one to two pills a night before bed - if after a couple weeks I'm not noticing a change she wants to put me on Prozac... yikes - Prozac - that kind of freaks me out a bit. The side effects to this one drug are hilarious - I read them to Jon and after reading the "novel" to him he said "yeah but you'll sleep better". Let me list a few of them.... excess sweating, nausea, weakness, weight gain, increased appetite especially for sweets, eye pain, hair loss, twitching of the face or tongue, uncontrolled movements of the arms and legs, difficulty speaking or swallowing, unusual bleeding or bruising, seizures.... the list goes on and just continues to worsen.... basically I get to become a possible nutcase twitching and what not but I might be able to get a night of sleep.... The doctor assured me that MOST people do not experience any of the side effects at all - but that there are a few that do.... am I one of the few that do or am I gonna be lumped into the MOST catagory.... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
Last night I took the pill - I started with just one and I still had a bit of trouble getting to sleep - I took it at 9:30pm and I didn't fall asleep until after midnight.... I also woke up about 10 times - thanks to the girls - they just didn't want to sleep last night. So we'll try it again tonight and see how it does....